Civil engineering facility to be built

FAYETTEVILLE — Construction on a $13.8 million Civil Engineering Research and Education Center is expected to begin in early 2020, a University of Arkansas spokesman said.

The 37,400-square-foot facility is being built at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in south Fayetteville.

The university has described it as the first facility of its kind in the state. It will be built with a 4-foot-thick floor able to withstand testing of large structural systems and components, according to the university. The facility also will be equipped with a 25ton crane to move materials.

The teaching and research facility has been described by UA as a resource for industry and government partners.

To help cover costs, $500,000 from the state’s rainy day fund has gone toward the project, a spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in September. In January, the state Department of Transportation pledged $1 million for the project.

Nick DeMoss, a UA spokesman, said $6 million in bond financing is helping pay for the project, along with $6 million in gifts. Some UA operating funds and an additional $500,000 in in-kind donations are also being used for the project, DeMoss said.